Salary vs Cost of Living Calculator
Compare a salary across two cities using your own costs rather than a published index — the salary you would need to keep the same amount left over each month, and what an offer actually changes.
Free · No sign-up · Nothing leaves your browser · Figures reviewed 22 September 2026
Your details
Take-home, not CTC.
Food, transport, utilities, schooling, everything that is not rent.
Optional — monthly take-home, to see whether the offer covers the difference.
Deposit, brokerage, relocation, setting up a home.
Salary you would need in the new city
₹1,15,000
To keep the same ₹30,000 a month left over after costs.
- Rent · 39%
- Other costs · 35%
- Left over · 26%
Where you are
- Monthly take-home
- ₹90,000
- Rent
- ₹25,000
- Everything else
- ₹35,000
- Left over each month
- ₹30,000
- Costs as a share of pay
- 66.7%
Where you are going
- Rent₹20,000 more
- ₹45,000
- Everything else
- ₹40,000
- Total monthly costs
- ₹85,000
- Equivalent salary needed
- ₹1,15,000
This deliberately asks for your own costs rather than applying a city index. Published cost-of-living indices are averages across a whole population and rarely describe how any particular person actually lives.
Two things a monthly comparison misses: HRA exemption is more generous in Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi and Chennai, where the limit is 50% of salary rather than 40%; and professional tax differs by state, which is worth a few hundred rupees a month either way.
Published cost-of-living indices are averages across a whole population, and they rarely describe how any particular person lives. So this asks for your own numbers instead: rent, and everything else.
The answer that matters is not the salary — it is what is left over each month after the costs, which is the only figure that is comparable between two cities.
Frequently asked questions
- How do I compare salaries between two Indian cities?
- Compare what is left over, not the salary. Subtract rent and living costs in each city from the take-home pay in each, and see which leaves more. A higher salary in a much more expensive city routinely leaves less.
- How much more should I earn to move to Mumbai or Bengaluru?
- Enough to cover the actual rent and cost difference with the same surplus left over. Rent is usually the whole story — the rest of the cost base varies far less between Indian cities than housing does.
- Does HRA change between cities?
- The exemption does. In Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi and Chennai the limit is 50% of salary; everywhere else it is 40%. Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune and Gurugram are 40% cities, which surprises people moving to them.
About this tool
Built by the ViniOffice team. Figures and rules last reviewed 22 September 2026 against the statutory reference this team maintains. Indian statutory rates are date-effective and change by notification — confirm against the current one before running payroll or filing.
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